The Impact of Community Volunteer Co-Medical Responders in Rural Alberta

Barb Sjoquist

An elderly man lies on his back not only paralyzed with fear but with the sharp pain that is burning in his chest, neck and arm.He fears the worst and that these may be the last moments of his life.As his wife frantically calls 9-1-1, he thinks to himself “we should have moved into town to be closer to the ambulance and the hospital”, but then he remembers…… “This is my home, where my family lives and my community is all around me.”

4 minutes after his wife makes the call, there is a bang on the door and the volunteer Fire Chief and 2 fire fighters push their way into the house.A smile comes over the patients face as he and his wife are comforted by the words of the First Responders.They have an AED with them, a first aid kit and he knows that they are trained in basic first-aid and CPR.One of the First Responders takes the telephone and provides information to the Ambulance Dispatcher on the other end.The Fire Chief says “take it easy my friend; we’re going to stay with you until the ambulance gets here.”“You’ll be fine.”The 40 minutes go by slowly until the ambulance finally arrives, it is 65kms from town after all and the road conditions aren’t that great after the storm.He jokes a little commenting that “they did pretty good just getting here in one piece!” “Thank the Lord they weren’t out on another call!”The 2 young ambulance attendants are clearly professional, but as he watches them, he knows they need help carrying him out to the ambulance. ”I should have lost that weight”, he thinks to himself as the group strains to lift him up the stairs of his house.

This story is a typical of what happens every day in Rural Alberta.Part of living here is the expectation that we are not going to have the “rapid on demand” compliment of emergency services that are available in large urban centers.However, we have learned to adapt and to do what we can to provide the best service possible to the people in our communities.Our rural communities have amazing people who volunteer to play a crucial role in their community and act as First Responders and volunteer Fire Fighters.

East Central 911 Call Answer Society provides dispatch service to no less than 16 Community First Response Groups.These Responders are largely the same Fire department personnel and volunteers that keep us safe in Fires, Motor vehicle collisions and generally speaking any other emergency situation that impact our communities, our roadways and the areas surrounding them.

The prime role of the Co-Medical is in support of ambulance services and personnel which in many cases in Rural Alberta may be ½ to 1 hr. hour away.

Co-Medical Responders are trained in basic first aid, the use of Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s) and in extraction techniques.Many Co-Medical Responders are trained as EMR’s or EMT-A’s. First Responders also provide needed assistance to ambulance personnel by lifting patients in difficult surroundings, guiding ambulances into remote locations and by taking ambulances off-road with their equipment.In most cases rural ambulances don’t have the ability to summon additional ambulance personnel.If they do, the added wait-time is unacceptable.Alberta Health Services (AHS) recognizes the value of these community members and although they do not help fund these emergency personnel, AHS admit that emergency medical response would not be the same without them.

Some of our city neighbours really do not have an appreciation for just what these people mean to our communities.There is a full-compliment of emergency service available on short notice to every city resident.Rural Alberta does not ask for the same thing as large centres, but a reasonable expectation to emergency service is possible.Our Co-Medical Responders are a large part of our answer to these situations.

At East Central 911 Call Answer Society, we cater to the very unique needs of the Rural Co-Medical Responder.Without the ability to dispatch Responders in a timely manner, their effectiveness is lost.East Central 911 develops and applies customized protocols that are flexible enough to provide the best service to our Responders and the Citizens they serve.EC911 is unique in the Dispatch environment.We are proud of the service we provide our citizens.